Real Estate Agents: Sponsor This Community

Hammond, Indiana

Population: 84,236
Located in Lake County

For social, cultural and recreational amenities, Hammond's 84,236 residents enjoy one of the country's best locations. Situated between Chicago's innumerable restaurants theaters, clubs, museums and recreational opportunities on the west and the Dunes National Lakeshore and the Michigan recreation and resort area on the east, Hammond residents can enjoy the best of both big city entertainment and unspoiled natural beauty and recreation within an hour's drive.

Festivals
Perhaps most symbolic of Hammond's sense of community pride is the annual two-day International Arts and Crafts Festival celebrating the ethnic diversity of our city. Over 100,000 people attend this joyous festival of music, dance, food and arts and crafts in which over 40 ethnic groups and organizations participate. Most of these groups represent the City's predominantly eastern and northern European heritage. Black and Hispanic groups, representative of Harrmond's nine percent Black and twelve percent Hispanic population, are active participants in this community wide festival.

Hammond's most popular festival, August fest, attracts over 350,000 people to a week-long celebration on the shores of Wolf Lake.Another popular festival, held annually in June, centers around the Little Red Schoolhouse, a landmark one-room school preserved by the Hessville Historical Society.

Parks and Beaches
The City's 950 acres of park land offer other recreational opportunities. Wolf Lake Park features a 300 acre lake that is the windsurfing capital of Chicago and also provides swimming, fishing and boating facilities.

Whihala Beach, a county park situated on the Lake Michigan Shoreline, overlooks the Hammond Marina. The 55-acre Hammond Marina, which opened in the summer of 1991, is the bi-state boaters answer to accessibility, facility and service. It is situated approximately 14 nautical miles southeast of Chicago and is the third largest recreational marina in the United States. It boasts 953 state-of-the-art slips in a secured harbor protected by a double breakwater with slips ranging from 30 to 50 feet. Also inside the Hammond Marina is Empress Casino, a three floor gambling boat which is a national leader in attendance. The Empress pavilion offers a harbor side steak house and other eating establishments inside as well. Gibson Woods, also a county park, is a 129 acre dune and swale nature area.

Hammond's additional 35 municipal parks offer a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities. The Hammond Fitness Center serves as an indoor multi-purpose center offering racquetball and handball, basketball, a swimming pool and sauna to residents and corporate members.

Library and School System
The fine local library system, including the Main library in downtown Hammond and six neighborhood branches, offers not only excellent print resources, but also records, tapes and pictures on loan. The libraries also provide community meeting rooms and host a variety of seminars of interest to residents.

The educational system in Hammond serves over 23,500 students from elementary through university levels. The public school system has a student/teacher ratio of 20.47 to 1. The Hammond School City Area Career Center offers a full range of technical programs for secondary level students as well as adults. Private and parochial schools from elementary through high school are also available. Two universities, Purdue Calumet and Calumet College of St. Joseph, are located in Hammond. Indiana University Northwest, Loyola University, DePaul University, University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Roosevelt University and the University of Illinois Circle Campus are all within a short driving distance.

Organizations
Hammond residents participate in a wide variety of civic, cultural and community organizations. Some of these include Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Optimist, Exchange, Altrusa, Business and Professional Women, American Business Women, American Association of University Women, Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees and the Downtown Hammond Council.

Find homes for sale in Hammond Indiana